DavidsTea vs Teavana

I prefer David’s. I like that their tins are $2.50, or free with 100g tea. I like that when you ask for small amounts they are happy to measure out 10-20g. I also prefer their plastic zip-top bags to the paper bags Teavana has. I hate having to come home and find an empty container, and so most of my Teavana teas are in canning jars!

That being said, I’m exploring other (mostly online) tea companies. I wish there was more locally, but I hate having to purchase 50g all the time, and most stores have a minimum.

Here are 11 reasons why David’s tea is better than teavana:
1. The people at David’s Tea are not nearly as pushy as they are at Teavana
2. At David’s Tea, if you simply would like to try a tea to see if you like it, you can buy 10 or 20 grams (there is no minimum). At teavana you HAVE to buy 2 oz. Nothing less is acceptable.
3. As already stated, the people at teavana often/always pour too much in the bag and then ask “Oh, sorry I put 3 oz in, is that okay?” even if you SPECIFICALLY asked for 2 oz.
4. After pouring too much into your bag, they take forever to take the excess amount out. Ie: “Okay its at 2.75 now.. is that okay?” actually no it’s NOT okay .. I asked for 2 oz..
5. Teavana has the same samples every. single. day. where as David’s tea swiches it up every day.
6. Teavana charges $7 for a tin. I repeat. FOR A TIN. Davids charges $2 or $2.50 and gives you 10% off the next time you bring it in.. so pretty much after a few purchases it pays for itself. Additionally, if you dont want a colored tin, when you purchase 100g of tea you get a silver tin for free. Pretty much a no brainer.
7. Teavana charges different prices for different cups of tea. I.e. if you want a “premium tea” as opposed to just a regular tea, you are paying more for that cup. David’s charges the same amount for a hot cup of tea for their entire collection.
8. David’s tea is regularly coming out with new flavours. Teavana is not.
9. When smelling davids tea, the employees let you come right up to their tins to get a good smell. When smelling teavana, the employees take a step back and then fan the tea in your face.. you get a minimal understanding of the smell at best.
10. David’s tea typically has much better/brighter lighting and in general a sensible layout than teavana which makes it easier to see their merch and gives me less reason to ask for help.
11. David’s tea is much more inventive with their blends (i.e. red velvet cake, birthday cake, coffee chai etc.) where as teavana is pretty safe with their naming/blends.

I don’t really look on there website that much and I happened to go to one of the physical stores. I went in there and I was curious if they had any puerh. Ha what a mistake! The girl looked so confused and then put out that I would ask for a tea that they didn’t have/know anything about. She tried to rebound when she found a blend that had puerh in it but I said no thats not what I am looking for and left.

Like everyone, I love DAVIDsTEA and think it beats Teavana by a long shot. I haven’t been overly impressed with Teavana. I bought three different kinds a few weeks ago (splurge) and only sort of like one of them. I don’t know what it is but I don’t generally care for their teas.

I don’t do maltodextrin but I bought a iced tea pitcher pack of Pink Passionfruit, not knowing the “passionfruit” was partially maltodextrin because it wasn’t listed online like it was on the package.

I got in contact with Natalie by emailing them and she found that it was supposed to tell you this when you hovered over passionfruit, but it had broken. I had said I really didn’t want to replace it, since it was like what, $3.50 and I had no problem giving it away. But she insisted on me picking out a new tea of my choosing so I did.

A week later, I got 50g of Green and Fruity and a new round of samples. I didn’t even buy 50g to start! I’ll admit I had been kind of upset about the fact the tea even had maltodextrin and was thinking I was going to write off DT for a good bit of time but that really changed my mind that they wanted to make it up to me that much.

Teavana well, you can go find stories from the post-Christmas sale and things being sold out online and see how well they take care of online orders.

not sure if your gluten issues are the gluten itself or an actual allergy to the wheat plant, but I found this when I googled maltodextrin: “If wheat is used to make maltodextrin, it will appear on the label. Even so, the maltodextrin itself will be gluten-free”

I like four teas (Blueberry Bliss Rooibos, Strawberry Lemonade Herbal, Pineapple Kona Pop Herbal, and Opus Rouge Rooibos) and that’s all I get from Teavana. Otherwise, I simply buy online at other more reasonable and varied stores. Sure, they are pushy. What store isn’t? But, I go in there prepared with these four teas in mind and I haven’t dealt with anything crazy. They back off since I appear tea knowledgeable and I know what I want. Also, I stay away from the greens, blacks, and whites since I know I can get them elsewhere.

Here is something that really does bother me about Teavana: the use of Buddhist and/or Japanese iconography to sell tea. Thanks for promoting the art of my religion as a vapid thing you can set anywhere in your house to make it more tranquil. No one in the store even knows/understands what they are selling…It feels like the equivalent of going to some other country and seeing Jesus on a cross in a KFC to promote that “American” feel. (sorry, this is inflammatory)

I agree with Kate and the 11 reasons DavidsTea is better. Found DT on a visit home to Canada and fell in love. I can’t wait until they take over the world! Had a minor issue with my Nobel pot infuser and they were very attentive to get it taken care of and again- with free samples. Love the free samples. Keeping a list of all the ones I’ve tried. Also because there is no location nearby I love that there is free/affordable shipping to both us and Canada and the CND rate helps it become an even better bargain. When I moved overseas and asked if they shipped APO (Army Post Office) they first responded that they only ship to US and Canada but as soon as I explained that APO was pretty much the same as shipping to the US they were very quick to email me back and describe how to enter the address in the order so they COULD ship to me. Never disappointed with their customer service. Like I said, so excited for them to expand worldwide because in my opinion they blow Teavana out of the water. (I just wish I could find the DT equivalent of Cacao Mint)